More: Handsome Little { B }

What an absolutely gorgeous family! The sweet mama is one of my good friends from high school (no, I'm not going to mention how many years ago that was) but I have never even met her cute kids! It was great to see her and capture a few shots of her, her cute baby boy, and imagine how thrilled we were that ALL the other kids were willing to jump in for a couple pictures!

 

 

  

Thursday Tip: Watermarking

Can you imagine walking into an art gallery, picking up a painting and merely walking out with it? Absolutely not! Unfortunately, it is SO much easier to steal artistic work, including photographs, when it is posted on the internet. As artists, there are things that can be done to minimize the possibility that someone else can steal our work. One way to do that is by using a watermark. It is not a fail-proof method, but I use it in an attempt to deter people from taking my images. I purposefully put part of my watermark over important parts of the picture, including skin, face, body parts, detailed clothing, etc. While it is always possible to clone it and crop it out, I try to place it strategically so that it would take more work than it is worth to do so. Additionally, I always lower the resolution of the image, which means that if you try to save it and later enlarge it to print (for any purpose), the image will not look the same and will be of much lesser quality.

When you receive your CD with the images from your session, there are two different folders and one PDF document. One folder contains images for you to print (Final Prints), one includes images for you to post on the internet (Web Images), and the PDF document is a signed document with permission for you to print your images wherever you choose. I do not put watermarks on any of the images that I prepare for you to print. I do not see any need for it to be on any image that you are printing to hang on your wall or give to family members,. While I post some images on my Facebook page and blog, I do not post all the images that are included with your CD. However, should you want to post any of the pictures, the folder that contains the web images contains all images from your session with the watermark and lowered resolution. Per our contract, those are the ones that you can post on your Facebook page, blog, website, etc. I ask you to post those images with the watermark for the same reason I do: to protect my work. You have paid me to produce a work of art for you, and I trust that you respect me enough to help protect me by not allowing others to easily steal my work.

It's unfortunate that we have to worry about others stealing images so easily, but it is a very real threat. For that reason, I choose to watermark any work I do that is displayed online.

February Photo Challenge: LOVE

I'm not usually one to enter photography contests, but I'm trying to reach out and challenge myself in different ways. There is a forum called Rock the Shot (www.rocktheshotforum.com) that does a monthly photo challenge and while I've thought of participating in the past, I've never actually done it. When I saw a reminder of the challenge on Facebook, I immediately thought of the newborn session I did recently and knew that I wanted to submit a photo that made me think of "love". I know that most of you have seen this picture before, but I am going to share it again as my entry.

 

I absolutely, positively, love this picture! I can't think of anything that screams love more than the adoration these two new parents have for their beautiful baby girl. No, it's not perfect, but my goal is always to portray the emotion I feel when I take a picture and I feel like this image was a success when measured by that standard.

 

More: Darling Baby { E }

I had such a hard time picking pictures to post of this beautiful baby girl and her family. Besides not wanting to sleep, she was an absolute angel. I love how evident it is that these cute parents adore their beautiful baby!

Preview: Handsome Little { B }

What a handsome little man! Little { B } was a little older than the age at which we would usually do newborn photos, but he was just as adorable as can be. I love the pics of him with his beautiful mom!

Newborn Session Winner!

I'm not a fan of the random number generators out there (I feel like they aren't actually random), so we did the drawing the old fashioned way! :-) I wrote the names on papers, folded them up, and let Marissa pick one. The one she picked was ...

Tiffany

Congrats Tiff! I know you're not due until June, but keep in touch with me and we will schedule a tentative date and finalize it once he gets here.

I am so grateful for everyone who entered the contest that I wanted to offer a discount to Brittany, Katie, Chelsea and Amanda ... 50% off your newborn session ($37.50 plus tax). It includes 3-4 hours of shooting time and at least 15 (usually more) high-resolution images on a CD. Email me at amymonroyphotography@gmail.com to schedule!

Thanks again and keep an eye on the blog! I plan to do another giveaway (of a different type of session) soon!

Thursday Tip: Professional Prints

(Photo taken from Google Images)

I don't think I ever realized how different photos could look depending on the printer! When you are considering getting professional prints, I would encourage you to think about how different a print can look from the original image depending on where you print it. You've just paid money to have profession pictures taken and you deserve to have those same pictures to display in your home. It is important to me that you have accurate prints. My monitor is calibrated and reflects accurate color, and I have tested mulitple print labs to see which one offers prints that truly match the images I have prepared for you.

Because I want my clients to be able to afford professional prints, I have listed my prices as low as I can.   I am only making a minimal amount to pay for my time, fees, shipping, etc when you order your prints. You are welcome to order prints from me at any time after your session. I keep all my images for at least a year.

Preview: Darling Baby { E }

Oh my goodness. What a beautiful (and stubborn) little baby! Little { E } did not want to sleep and made us work hard to get her to sleep! We got some adorable ones with her awake, but once she finally gave in and went to sleep we got some absolutely gorgeous pictures!

Isn't this the cutest little outfit? Her mom brought it ... and now I want one in my stash!

I absolutely LOVE this one. Can you see how her parents are completely enthralled with her? SO much love!

I'm not normally a sepia gal, but I stumbled across this as I was playing and ended up liking it a lot since she was dressed in brown. Such cute little features!

Newborn Session Giveaway!

After writing my post on newborn sessions yesterday and pulling out all my old (and new) props for a session tomorrow, I decided that it was time for me to do a giveaway!

Here are the details:

Newborn Session

10-15 Digital Images on a CD

Up to 3 hours of Shooting Time

Entries will be accepted until February 10th

Winner will be drawn on February 11th

Session must be completed by June 2012

There are only two requirements to enter.

1. You must like "Amy Monroy Photography" on Facebook.

2. Come back here and leave a comment letting me know that you've done the first step and that you want to be included in the drawing!

 

ANYONE can enter, but there will be no substitutions for the type of session offered. Feel free to enter to win the session for yourself, a family member, a friend, anyone! If you win and can't use it for yourself, it would make a great gift! 

Good luck!

Thursday Tip: Newborn Sessions

I absolutely love newborn sessions! Photographing a precious new baby ... ah ... I get excited just thinking about it!

Newborn sessions are very different from most other sessions and can be stressful if you don't know what to expect. I've been there with my own kids ... you want them to be perfect, act exactly the way you think they should (ie. smile for the camera), and when they don't: stress!

These sessions are all about patience. Newborn babies want to be held and fed often. They like to stay warm. We want them to wear hats, headbands, wraps, cute outfits, and finally, we want those cute naked baby pictures! If we want the baby to cooperate (sleep), we need to keep them happy during the times we aren't shooting photos and take photographs quickly once they are happy and sleeping. Soothing takes time (it will be what we are doing most of the time), and if we aren't patient, we will never get the shots we want. For this reason, we plan for a regular newborn shoot to take 3-4 hours. They don't need to last that length of time, but that is the time I plan on spending with you and your baby.

Most newborn sessions are done at your home. Having a new baby is an adjustment and being in your own home is one way for you to be a little more comfortable than you may be in a studio. You can go somewhere you are comfortable to feed and soothe your baby. We will set up an area to do the shoot in a main room with good lighting. I will bring everything we need to get amazing pictures with neutral backgrounds, including backdrops, flooring, blankets, headbands, hats, and other props, but I love it when parents have special blankets, outfits and other accessories that they want to have in the pictures. You will want to keep your home warmer than usual to help keep the baby comfortable while we are shooting.

Plan on scheduling your newborn session before the baby is born, and we will set a concrete date after his/her birth. Photographing these little ones is usually easiest when it is done before the baby is 10 days old. They are usually still sleepy and willing to let us move them around more while they are still young. I will not schedule a client if I am sick or worried about bringing any contamination to your new baby. I always wash my hands before touching your baby and am happy to wash them as many times as you would like me to during the session. I have little ones and understand how important it is to keep them healthy, especially when they are so small!

I encourage parents to be a part of the photo shoot. Most shoots will be of the baby, but there is something beautiful about capturing the new relationship between mom, dad, and baby (as well as siblings). I completely understand not wanting to be a part of any pictures after just having a baby, but I wish that I had more pictures of me with my kiddos when they were tiny.

While these sessions require patience, you will be greatly rewarded if you can be calm and listen to what your baby needs. My hope is to make this a great experience for the entire family and capture some beautiful photos of your beautiful new baby!